Newsletter Archive

 

It’s finally time to “Play Ball!”

  April…the “official” start of baseball, softball, t-ball & pre-tee season. The time when kids of all ages (yes, coaches too!) show up for practices and games with eager anticipation for the season ahead and uniforms which still look new. It’s a time that many BAA members have worked very hard for over the past few months, and I’d like to thank a few of them.  The Board would like to thank everyone who showed up for Clean Up Day at Chartiers Park in March. Everyone that showed up made the job much easier! Because there were so many people there, I am afraid I may not have enough room in this article. We really appreciate all of your help!! However, there is one person that I would like to give a big thanks to. Dave Colton has volunteered hours upon hours of his time to help make our facilities at the park a better place for our kids to play ball. 
Thanks Dave!

   I would also like to recognize some of the ways the board members have been working for the BAA during the preseason. Rick Carlson spent countless hours attending many meetings with me as we worked with Scott Township to put together the 2010 season for our baseball and 8&U softball teams this year (10UG & 12UG schedules and rules will be completed by the CVC). We continue to strengthen our rules and guidelines for each age group of the league. Rick also was Bridgeville’s rep for scheduling all of our games for this season. Those of you with multiple children playing ball may have filled out your calendars
and groaned at the number of games your family has to keep track of – just think of Rick & the BAA’s 270 games this season! Jim Lindow worked hard on making sure each team had sufficient equipment this year (by the way, did you get my Tee?). Frank & Ellen Zissis are organizing a fun and different Picture Day. Don’t forget to bring donated food for the Bridgeville
Food Bank to help your team win snow cones! Colleen Marches & Diane Galterio have been preparing the Concession Stand
for the upcoming season with several different items on the menu. Boy, I can smell those burgers now! Thank you to Frank Zissis, who has done an outstanding job on our website. To find out what is going on with the BAA, just go to the website
www.bridgevilleball.com and don’t forget to signup for the email notification system! This is such a valuable way to keep track of what’s going on in the BAA - great job, Frank! Thanks to Dave Cannon and Rich Krausa for running another fun & successful Bingo fundraiser! The success of our annual fundraisers are what allows us to keep your costs to play ball in Bridgeville down. Special thanks goes out to Rob Chickis, Dave Windsheimer & Ron Schott who were star ticket sellers throughout the day! We had a great Bingo, and they made it easy for the rest of us. Dave Cannon has done, as always, an exceptional job behind the scenes as Treasurer.  He puts in many hours handling all of our money and keeping it organized. Dave has done a terrific job of making sure our reporting is accurate and submitting our records to our accountant for our annual audit. And last but not least, thank you in advance goes out to Rich Goedel & Frank Kuna for dedicating many hours to get those ball fields ready for our season. This is one job where they can always use more volunteers! If you would like to help out with the fields, they can always use another set of hands! Give them a call or send them an email. I am sure they will be down at the fields and would love company!  So as you can see, we’ve been quite busy during the preseason getting ready for May. I think I can speak for the other Board members and volunteers when I say that it is all worth it when our kids are on the field or in the batter’s box, uniforms on, excitement for a new season shining on their faces, and the umpire starts the game with a call to “Play Ball!”
                                                                                                                                       - Joe Verduci, BAA President

DID YOU KNOW? HOW DO WE KEEP THE COST DOWN?

Over the last five years, the Board has kept very detailed records and can now estimate how much the actual cost per player is to play in the association. Here is how it broke down per player in the 2009 season; T-Ball came to approximately $86.38 plus trophies & BAA jacket, 7-12 year olds came to approximately $124.54 plus BAA Jacket & umpire fees. Seeing this even makes you appreciate how important our fundraisers and donations from our dedicated sponsors are to this association. Please review our Sponsors Wall of Fame on page 6 & 7. As Rich stated earlier in this newsletter, please patronize these businesses and thank them for supporting our children. The following will give you an idea on some of the expenses broken down PER PLAYER:

T-Ball Shirts & hats                         $22.85                   Umpires by age bracket per player / team
Baseball Shirts, Pants, socks & hats $32.80                      8&U Boys $10.00
Softball Shirts, Shorts, socks & hats $33.10                    10&U Boys $ 16.66
Clinics (7 & above)                          $28.21                    12&U Boys $ 20.00
Postage & Printing                           $12.35                     14&U Boys $ 44.00
Equipment                                       $15.59                        8&U Girls $ 10.00
Field Materials                                 $26.94                      10&U Girls $ 16.66
Insurance                                         $  3.92                      15&U Girls $ 25.33
Miscellaneous                                  $  4.73
T-Ball Trophies                               $  7.50
BAA Windbreaker Jacket               $17.18
2010 Sponsors Needed!
The Bridgeville Athletic Association is looking for the generosity of local companies to sponsor boys and girls baseball and
softball teams for the 2009 season. Your help is greatly needed.

Level of participation for the 2009 Season include (spring ball, All Star, and tournaments):

Team Sponsorship: $200 This includes your name on all the player’s uniforms. (Act now, these seem to go first!!)

Sponsor Advertising Sign: Placed along the fence at Chartiers Park. Sign design of your choice and logo of your choice.
                  First Year $200 New sign for 2009
                  Second Year Renewal $150 (sign exists)
                  Third Year Renewal $100 (sign exists)

Corporate Sponsorship: Call Joe Verduci for details 412-221-3209

All of our benefactors of a team sponsorship will receive a sponsor T-shirt or hat, and a sponsor plaque containing a picture of the team you have sponsored, as well as a subscription of our newsletter “Play Ball” each month to keep you informed of our activities. In addition, each Sponsor will also receive acknowledgement in the newsletter and on our website of your
participation. Remember, even if you cannot sponsor a team or place an advertising sign, we would be grateful for any
Non-profit 501(c)3 tax deductible donation you could give to help keep the BAA a vital part of our community. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the possible Corporate Sponsorship opportunities, please do not hesitate to call Joe Verduci at 412-221-3209
Play Baseball or Softball in Bridgeville for just about FREE!

    In order to keep rising costs affordable for all the ball players in the community we rely on the generosity of our sponsors. We work hard to recruit and retain the local businesses that support the BAA but our efforts can use your help! We are looking for NEW sponsors to join our already wonderful group of organizations and individuals. Possibly you know of a relative or parent who would be interested, your company or the company your child receives a $25 check to refund back toward your registration fees you work for may want to sponsor….you get the idea. Here is the program; if you bring a NEW sign sponsor to our organization for the standard three year agreement or that new glove your son or daughter wanted or new spikes for the upcoming season. (up to 3 NEW sponsors per child) The new sponsor will receive a 4 ft. x 4 ft. metal sign with logo and slogan of their choice placed on the fences at our Chartiers Park fields, recognition in all of the PlayBall! newsletters and most importantly the great feeling of helping out the boys and girls of our community. Any questions, please call Joe Verduci at 412-221-3209, Rob Chickis at 412-818-7714 OR go to the BAA website for sponsor letter and form to be completed.